Listen to Me
by sisterawesomeness
Summary: Liz was just minding her own business when she's kidnapped and sold to one of the most psychotic cons ever, Overlord. Well, to his teacher Trepan anyway. Along with the mnemosurgon she must figure out a way to survive the sadist. Even if they beat the odds will their sanity remain intact? Not if Overlord has anything to say about it.
1. Prologue: My Thoughts

"_Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." _― _Shel Silverstein_

* * *

What is hope? What is fate? I don't have the answers to my questions. I'm not sure anyone does really. All we have is our own thoughts and notions. At the end of the day we talk ourselves into thinking it's good enough. If we don't do that then all we're left with is some more wondering and confusion. If someone comes along claiming to actually know the answers we jump on it, even if we are skeptical. It doesn't matter if all we end up doing is tearing the answers apart. The fact is we had them. They were in our grasp. If only for a moment.

So getting back to my own questions. What do I think? I can't say you'll really care about what I think but I don't care. Listen to me if you want. To me hope is cruel. It taunts us and then laughs in our faces every chance it gets.

As for fate… Well I used to believe there was a plan to all of this. That something good would happen out of everything bad. That it happened for a reason. But after seeing what I've seen and going through what I did… Hm. Fate. I suppose if hope is cruel then fate is indifferent. Or maybe it's an even bigger bitch than hope. I haven't rightly made up my mind yet. I'll have to get back to you on that one. That is if I'm still around to record all of this.

* * *

_I haven' t really tried to write something this dark before, well maybe once before but that was a little different. I'll give a proper warning in the next chapter. _


	2. It Couldn't Be ET

**I'm exploring darker themes with this one folks so beware. I also wanted to say that this story was inspired by koch43 on deviantart. Her work with Trepan and Overlord inspired this. I'm not ripping her off though so don't flame me. But I do suggest you check out her work. **

**Call this AU if you want. It's a mixture of the IDW comics and Transformers Prime. Just wanted to let you know.**

* * *

You know how adults are always telling you to avoid vans or else you might be kidnapped? Well they should really watch out for SUVs. I was walking home when out of nowhere I felt a tap. There was no warning and no one was even around me. I fell to the ground and my vision automatically blurred as I twitched horribly. It felt like I was shoving a fork in a socket.

"Sorry 'bout that sweetheart," I heard and saw a weird looking SUV drive up to where I'd collapsed. "I'm usually much more careful with my merchandise. New taser. I'll know to correct the settings for the next one." There was a strange metallic noise and by this point I was so out of it I couldn't see. "In you go. You'll fetch me a great price. I just know it." That was when I was lost to the darkness.

* * *

It took me a while to wake up. At least I think it did. I was never good at judging time. When I did I was in one of the most uncomfortable positions ever. I was in what appeared to be a large tube device. My back was against one part and I was nearly bent in half as my legs went up the other side. When I maneuvered enough to properly sit my back let out a loud 'crack'.

I peered around and was in a completely alien environment. Nearly everything was made out of metal. It reminded me of a large garage or shop. Devices of all kinds littered the place, the shelves all around the room, and some hung from the ceiling. Which when I looked out of I saw stars. Maybe it was night.

When I took all of that in I focused on the giant table my tube was on. One side there was the edge while on the other were more tubes. Due to my vantage point I couldn't tell how many others there were but I saw at least three. People were in them as well. The one closest to me was a middle aged guy. He had his back to the glass and was talking to himself. Beyond him was a thirty something woman who was crying, and last I could see was a guy about my age. Maybe two or three years older. He kept banging on the glass and was shouting something in what I could only guess was French. I took Spanish in high school.

"Hey," I tried talking to them. "Does anyone know what's going on?" The guy next to me was no help at all, he just starting whispering incoherent things to himself. I don't think the French guy understood me at all. But it wasn't like the crying woman was much more help. She was able to tell me a few things between her sobs.

Turns out we were all taken by some enormous alien robot, there were more tubes in other rooms of this joint, and that this place was a giant spaceship. Out in space. Just great. What was worse was that no one knew exactly why we were here. Only that the alien robot took care of us but I guess he was selling us off. Like pets. Other giant robots would come in from time to time and buy other stuff. Sometimes they'd pick out a human and our captor would hand us over to them.

_How does this happen? _I always suspected we weren't alone in the universe. I didn't expect them to be little green men or anything. But I would've never guessed they were giant robotic creatures that stole us away from our own planet to sell us off. It would be my luck, and apparently everyone else's here, to meet an asshole alien. _Why couldn't it have been E.T.?_


	3. Soul 4 Sale

**Most of this story will be in Liz's point of view. But every once in a while it will switch for plot purposes. Also, I own nothing but my OC Liz. The song used in this chapter is called Soul 4 Sale by Simon Curtis.**

* * *

I saw my alien kidnapper later that night. He came in to give us water and some sort of crappy food. It looked like a granola bar and tasted like bitter oranges. But at least he was feeding us. He stopped and would look each of us over like we were show dogs. It made my skin crawl. He got to me eventually and tapped the tube. "Hello sweetheart," he smiled at me and I was a little surprised to hear him speaking English. "I see that little tap I gave ya didn't damage you."

"Let me out of here!" I screamed back at him.

"Feisty," he just kept smiling. "You're pretty cute too for an organic. I know you'll go fast. I just have to find the right buyer."

"Go fuck yourself," I sneered at him. He just seemed to ignore that last comment and fed me. Afterwards he'd come in the room every now and again and I could hear him talking. I didn't see any phone but for all I knew he had some type in his head. It was hard as shit sleeping in these tubes. Not like you could get comfortable. But I did use the time to think things over.

Even if I somehow managed to get myself out of the tube I didn't have a lot of options. If this was on Earth I would've had the option of running for it. But I had nowhere to go. I doubted there was a manual lying around in English on how to fly this ship. If I'd even be able to handle the controls. I had no way of knowing where Earth was. He might have been flying around the moon or clear on the opposite end of the galaxy. Plus, even if I made it out of my container I'd have to avoid him. He was five or so times my size.

I guess I could've gone on a hunger strike to try and spite him. No one wanted damaged merchandise right? But I needed my wits about me if I was ever going to find a way out of this. For that I needed to stay healthy. My mental health and stress were pretty high. If not merely from the situation then from the other people in the tubes. They were really getting on my nerves. I know everyone deals with stress differently and everyone has their own breaking points. But damn.

The French guy never seemed to shut up, the kid my own age wouldn't talk at all, the woman cried so much she went horse, and the muttering guy went from whispering to all out screaming at the top of his lungs. I covered my ears but seeing as he was right next to me it didn't do much. It didn't matter what anyone said to him. He did it constantly until our captor finally came into the room. He noticed the screaming man and picked up the tube. He pulled out some sort of scanner and ran it on him after he pulled him out. I guess what the scanner said wasn't helping because he just sighed and walked out of the room with him.

None of us ever saw him again. I don't think he killed him or anything. Nah that wouldn't be profitable. He probably just shoved him somewhere so that we wouldn't have to listen to him. I was a little, and I do mean little, thankful for that. Instead a girl around my age was placed there instead. I wasn't sure what language she was speaking but there wasn't much we could do in the way of communication.

Things got boring after that. There wasn't much to do in the tubes, the most I could do was stand up and stretch a bit. Looking around the ship itself and imagining what all the items could be used was only so entertaining. Not like my fellow tube people were decent conversationalists. So I took a notebook out of my backpack, yeah I still had it, and wrote down what had happened so far. It gave me something to do. Afterwards I hummed and then lightly sang one of my favorite songs. Ironically it seemed to fit the situation. **"Come baby listen there's some things you wanna know. But look at about this loveless I know where was gonna go. Until you let a proof now that you can try to show me. Other ways to go about it I already know. This is a relationship in which we make sacrifices. Tip it, cut it, split it up and leave the body paralyzed. Unable to be clear that you listened that you realized. That's just what you got, a deal, take the wedge and pay a price."** I tapped my fingers on the glass as I stood up. **"Hey! What do you want me to say? Tell me, are you ready? Give you everything you want. Give me everything you need. I got a soul for sale, a soul for sale."**

Everyone else looked at me like I was weird or plan asked me how I could be singing at a time like this. I countered with at least I wasn't just yelling or crying. They shut up at that and I rocked on. **"Oh! What do you want me to be? Show me 'cause I want it. Give you everything you want. Give me everything you need. I got a soul for sale, a soul for sale."** By now our abductor walked in and noticed me but I didn't give a crap. **"Forty days and forty nights you worked to seduce me. I listen to the lyrics and the song 'cause it amuse me. And I sing along and I last long decided to reduce me. To a puppet on the shelf to scream: "I'm puppet master, choose me!""**

I couldn't get that song out of my head the next day either. I sang it some more as we got a guest on the ship. Some other robot guy who looked around at all the stuff. **"So come on baby, come and love me like a kamikaze. Well good night on flumsy grab the light and lub the Papparazzi. Go and melt my knees with flames, the flames will all renew the symptoms. Sum it up to love 'cause I'm ready for the game. Hey! What do you want me to say? Tell me, are you ready? Give you everything you want. Give me everything you need. I got a soul for sale, a soul for sale."**

The guy stopped and listened to me as he walked over to the table where we sat. All the others pressed back in their tubes like he was gonna eat them or something. I paid them no attention as I rocked out in my own little world. **"Oh! What do you want me to be? Show me 'cause I want it. Give you everything you want. Give me everything you need. I got a soul for sale, a soul for sale. Oh! Give me everything, give me everything." **They conversed in some language I couldn't understand. But from the hand gestures I think the new guy wanted to buy me or something. I was pretty freaked out but what else could I do about it? I was in a giant test tube. So I continued doing the only thing I could. I sang. **"Sign in the line. Make a deal with the devil. Make a deal with the devil in blood."**

It was right then an enormous robot stood in the doorway. He easily towered over our abductor and the other guy. He was blue and white and I could've easily fit in one of his hands. They stopped talking and by their expressions I would've thought they'd drop dead. They looked like death walked in the door. I simply turned my back to them and kept on. **"Sign in the line. Make a deal with the devil. Make a deal with the devil in blood. I know your love is bad but I want it all."**

I did however glance over my shoulder a few times. The guy that was going to buy me ran out of the room like a mad dog was on his heels. Our abductor put on a friendly smile like it was nothing but by his body language I could tell this guy put him on edge. **"Hey! What do you want me to say? Tell me, are you ready? Give you everything you want. Give me everything you need. I got a soul for sale, a soul for sale. Oh!"** I finished up. I didn't see the big deal. Yeah he was big and kind of gave me a weird vibe. Plus his smile was creepy. Ok maybe I could see why my kidnapper didn't like him.

He directed him to a set of what I thought were weapons hanging up on a wall. This big guy didn't seem interested. He then attempted to direct him to what might have been tools or torture devices. He paused and indicated he wanted two. Kidnapper guy grabbed them and redirected him to another room.

But before big guy left the room he stopped and examined our tubes. Everyone acted like they did before but the crying and yelling got even louder. I decided to take a break from my singing and instead leaned back in the tube with my hands behind my head as I sat down. No sense in freaking out. It wasn't going to help any of us and just waste energy.

He got to my tube and picked it up. I was thankful I was sitting down or else I would've lost my balance. The way he looked at me reminded me of how a cat looks at a mouse. I hid the feeling and appeared indifferent. Though I did notice his eyes were red instead of our captors purple. But they both had the same purple symbol on them. Wonder what it meant.

* * *

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Swindle inquired. "Oh," he noticed the Phase Sixer was holding his best human. "That is a species called human from a tiny dirt ball twenty light years away. Rare specimen though. It's only known to reside on that one planet." The Warrior Elite didn't say anything but kept staring at the girl. For a moment Swindle wondered if he was just going to break the container and kill his best subject. "That particular one is a femme and probably the best behaved out of all of them. As you can clearly see." Swindle felt his wires nearly crawl as he waited for Overlord to do something. He wasn't used to customers this silent and it was unnerving. Well that and the sadist's presence to begin with. Before he could come up with something else to say the other con spoke.

"How much?"

Swindle was at a loss for a moment before his vocalizer started back up. "Well… I was planning on selling that little beauty for 3000 credits." He stopped when the Phase Sixer looked at him. It was difficult to read his expression but he wasn't going to take chances. "But for one of Megatron's top warriors I'd be willing to settle for 1000 credits."

Overlord smiled at him and he fought the urge to run. "Sounds fair enough. You're a wise trader indeed." Swindle gathered everything up and Overlord signed off on the final amount.

"Don't forget to feed her at least once a day," Swindle told him also handing over the human necessities. It would be able to hold the human for a month or so. "They're a fragile species."

"Indeed," Overlord only wore a smirk as he grabbed everything and headed back to the airlock to his ship. Swindle saw the human steading herself in the tube. She looked around from the tube oblivious as to who she'd just been sold. But from his position he could see her make eye contact with him. He sort of felt a tiny pang in his spark. The human had no idea what she was in for. And the fact Overlord had requested the file containing the human's language couldn't have been a good sign.

But instead of looking afraid the human simply appeared to be taking everything in like it was nothing. Although when she saw him looking at her she smiled. Then she brought up one of her hands and gave what he'd learned was 'the finger.' He suddenly felt that pang in his spark disappear. The human was no longer his concern and he had work to do. "Good luck kid," he said heading back to his main office. "Primus knows you need it where you're going."


	4. Trepan

**Warning you now this universe is a mixture of Prime and the comics.**

* * *

"You are to be my teacher's pet," were the first words that came out of the big guy's mouth. He then smirked at me and told me I could refer to him as Overlord.

"Weird name," I commented. "I'm Liz. So what's this teacher's name?"

"Trepan," he answered directing this ship we were in to what appeared to be a mini space station.

"Cool," I commented and leaned back in my tube.

"You don't seem upset," he glanced over at me. "Shouldn't you be begging to go home or for me to spare you from whatever horrors lay ahead?"

I swear I could've heard suppressed glee in there. Like he wanted me to do what he was saying. "Eh," I shrugged. "I probably should be worried. But I just don't see the point in it. You're way bigger and smarter than I am. You could crush me right now and there's not a thing I could do about it. Why waste my time fretting over stuff I have no control over? Plus I don't even know what this Trepan guy and you're really like. If I am going to freak out I can wait till later when I have all the information. I may not be the smartest person but I can tell right now there's no way in hell you'll take me home. Not after you spent all that money on me."

* * *

Overlord was not a mech to be easily surprised. He'd expected certain reactions from the organic once he told her what she was for. But her response had been the exact opposite. She'd accepted her situation in stride and didn't seem bothered in the slightest. If her body language and tone were anything to go by.

He had to admit while he would've enjoyed her going into hysterics this was a pleasant change of pace. It was a rare occurrence when any being he held captive didn't squirm or beg. Perhaps she would later on once she saw what it was exactly she was in for. "Interesting," he noted and tapped the glass. She looked at him before her gaze returned to the station they would be docking at shortly. This might be more entertaining than he originally thought.

* * *

Trepan barely noticed when the ship shook slightly as another docked to it. He didn't let it show how it irritated him his free time was now gone. Overlord had only been gone for two orns to gather new supplies and teaching material for him. His grip on the datapad he was reading tightened a bit. He quickly set it down and went to greet Overlord. No doubt the sadist would want to share all that he'd foraged for them. And if he was to be honest he could really use some more energon.

"I see you've returned," Trepan kept his tone confident and held a slight smile on his face when he spotted the con. "Did you find any good specimens?"

"I think you'll be pleased," the Warrior Elite answered him. "Oh I nearly forgot. I have a little surprise for you."

The ex-bot tried to cover up the shiver that ran through his frame. When it came to the Phase Sixer nothing was what it appeared. He had to constantly tread lightly. "Really?" he kept his tone playful. "You shouldn't have."

"Here," he tossed him a small tube. He caught it out of instinct and immediately examined what was inside. It was a tiny organic. One he'd never seen before. It was roughly similar in build to that of a femme though it was smaller than any minicon he'd ever seen. "I thought you'd get lonely with only me and the test subjects for company," Overlord wore his signature smirk. "I thought she might cheer you up. I'll give you her language file as soon as I'm done unloading."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" the mnemosurgeon asked.

"I thought a bright doctor such as yourself would be able to tell," the Warrior Elite turned his back to him. "She's your new pet."

* * *

Overlord threw my tube at some orange, white, and grey guy who was even smaller than the dude who'd sold me. I was guessing he was Trepan. He held my tube and examined me like he had no clue what I was about. He and Overlord exchanged some words I couldn't understand before he went back to the ship. Trepan held my tube near his face and I couldn't tell what he was thinking looking me over.

"What's up?" I asked but he didn't seem to be able to understand me. A short time later though Overlord came back and then this Trepan guy started speaking English. "You must be Trepan," I said as he sat my tube down on a table. "I'm Liz. Overlord say's I'm your new pet. Wish I could say it's nice to meet you but I don't feel much like lying right now."

"What are you exactly?" he sat down in a chair in front of me. "I've never seen your species before."

"I'm human. Female to be exact and I come from a planet you might not even heard about seeing as you don't know what I am. My turn. What are you guys exactly? Some sort of robots?"

"We are Cybertronians that come from the planet Cybertron. Not that the information will do you much good."

"You have a point. So… Mind letting me out of this tube? I'd really like to stretch my legs."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait. Swindle gave us all the information we need to keep you alive. Right now we are slightly readjusting some of our ship's settings so that you will be able to move around freely."

"Thanks." I glanced around the room we were in. There were things that reminded me of Kindles or some sort of pads strewn all over the place, a metal bed in the corner, and the desk we were currently at. I was guessing we were in his room. There was a small window near the bed that I could glimpse the vastness of space in. "So Overlord said you're a teacher. In what?"

He leaned back in his seat and I could see his posture change a little. I settled in because I got the feeling he wasn't above bragging. Or overtly long explanations. Turns out I was right. Trepan was called a mnemosurgeon. It basically meant he could use these needles coming out of his fingers to delve into another bot's mind. He could see all of their memories or even edit them as he saw fit. He also explained this could be done to such an extent as to completely alter another's personality. He used to work at a place called the Institute where he did this for a living. It was in secret because the old government used to be corrupted and all that. He'd simply make certain problems disappear.

But then the war broke out and he had to choose sides. He considered becoming a Decepticon but as he put it, "I couldn't stand how they conducted themselves. Not that the Autobots were that much better." He was able to teach others how to do his line of work. That was why he was kidnapped by Overlord during a raid when he was about to wipe the mind of some high up con named Soundwave.

That's when he told me exactly what type of con Overlord was. How he was specially forged and nearly indestructible. Not to mention a complete psycho who loved torturing people. It didn't really matter if it was bots or cons. "I supposed I could've let you live in blissful ignorance," he let out what I thought was a sigh. "But I figured you might as well know what you're getting into if you're going to stay alive around here. I guess Overlord got bored when he got you. Don't think that just because you're 'my pet' doesn't mean Overlord won't mess with you or kill you if the mood strikes him. You'll see soon enough what I have to live with."

"He's only keeping you alive to learn your secrets," I stated taking it all in. "Isn't he?"

Trepan didn't answer me but finally opened the tube. He titled it so I slid right out. "Welcome to your new home," he said after a moment. I stood up and looked around more as I gasped for breathe a couple of seconds. "Oh sorry," he stated and typed in something on the computer. "The process wasn't done yet." I was able to catch my breath and glared up at him.

"So," I spoke up once I stopped gasping. "How long will it take him to learn everything?"

"He's a quick study," Trepan answered. "You're good at masking your emotions child. Most bots or cons in your situation would be screaming or keening by now."

"Not sure what keening is but eh," I shrugged. Internally I was still going over what he'd told me. It was a lot to take in and sort of ironic Trepan wasn't in much a better position than me. I should've been having a panic attack or running around crying for my mommy. Truthfully I wasn't sure why I wasn't. The only explanation I could come up with is that I was in shock and not fully accepting the situation. If it kept me from losing it then I wasn't going to complain that much. "You've got a good view though," I noted the window.

He stared at me a moment before a small smirk spread across his face. "Don't you mean we have a good view?"

"I suppose you're right," I smiled back at him.


	5. Please Read!

**Hey people. I probably should've wrote this before but let's just say I was in an accident today. Nothing major but it got me thinking about what would've happened to my lovely stories if I had been seriously hurt or even killed. **

**So I'm letting all of you know now. If anything were to happen to me and if I don't update any of my stories for like… Two or three months than assume the worst and that my lovelies are up for adoption. Better safe than sorry and I want my works to live on even if I'm not around. Hopefully if something does happen other awesome writers out there would take up my work. Or maybe it'll inspire someone. I don't mind as long as you give me some credit. I'll take these notes down when I update next. **


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